32nd Sunday - C (November 6, 2022)

 

Children of God

Luke 20: 27-38

 

Jesus came to reveal to us that God is our loving Father.

 

Then, by his cross and resurrection, Jesus made us “children of God.” 

 

Thus, God’s life is not a future existence.  God’s life is already flowing in us, God’s children, now, in this life. 

 

We will die after this earthly life.  But we will rise, because God’s life lasts forever.  

 

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32nd Sunday - B (October 7, 2021)

 

To Love Is To Give All

Mark 12: 38 – 44

 

Last week, Jesus reaffirmed the priority of the two commandments of love.  And to love as Jesus teaches is to love with all that we are and have. 

 

Today, we witness the poor widow’s sacrificing love – in giving “her livelihood.” 

 

Moreover, Jesus is now already in Jerusalem.  In a few days, Jesus himself would give the ultimate gift of love – the gift of his very life on the cross (we also hear this in today’s 2^nd reading). 

 

“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”  (John 15:13).

 

See how Jesus loves us! 

 

In the US, this week is Vocation Awareness Week.  Let’s pray that we may see our vocations as God’s gift of love to help us love as Jesus loves.  And may young people embrace God’s vocation for them as such.  

 

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32nd Sunday - A (November 8, 2020)

You Lord Give Light to my Lamp

Matthew 25: 1-13

 

Beginning today, and for the next two Sundays (the last 3 Sundays of the Church year), the Gospels are three parables from Chapter 25 of the Gospel According to Matthew.  Matthew concludes the ministry of Jesus with these parables.  (Chapter 26 begins with “the conspiracy against Jesus” by those who opposed him).

 

These three parables together teach us how to live our earthly life in reference to the Kingdom of God.  And God’s Kingdom is not something of the next life.  It is already here because Jesus has already established it with his incarnation, his ministry, his crucifixion and resurrection. 

 

One lesson that can be drawn from today’s Gospel is that in order to live in God’s Kingdom, we must stay connected with Jesus.  A lamp without oil cannot give light.  And in Scriptures, there are references to God and God’s word as the source of light.  For example, “You Lord give light to my lamp; my God brightens my darkness” (Psalm 18: 29) [1], and “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105) [2].  Thus, we, like lamps, must be filled with the Oil – God and God’s Word.

 

 

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[1] Footnote in New American Bible for Psalm 119:105.

[2] progressiveinvolvement.com.

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32nd Sunday - C (November 10, 2019)

God is God of the living

Luke 20: 27-38

Every culture has multiple euphemisms for death.  One religious example is to say that someone is “with God.”

This kind of euphemism has its place since death is never easy to cope with, and news of death is difficult to convey.  It is also the reality that we do not know God fully in this life. 

Yet, Jesus assures us, “God is not God of the dead, but of the living.”

I already belong to God in this life.  So are my neighbors.

How does this reality that Jesus teaches us guide the way I live my earthly life?  How does it shape the way I treat others?

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32nd Sunday - B (November 11, 2018)

The Offering of Life

Mark 12:38-44

The poor widow “has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.”

The word for “livelihood” can also be translated as “life.”

Besides, logically speaking, since she has contributed all she has to live on she has offered to God her very life.

Last week, Jesus taught the commandment of loving God with one’s whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. 

This week, Jesus gives us the example of this woman who offers God her life.

And by this time, Jesus is already in Jerusalem.  Soon, he will sacrifice his very life as the gift of love to God and to all humanity. 

When we receive the Eucharist, we receive this gift of Jesus’ life.  And He empowers us to love as he does.  

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32nd Sunday - A (November 12, 2017)

Matthew 25: 1-13

Commentary

Five Are Foolish, Five Are Wise

A few weeks ago, we listened to another wedding parable, with a king inviting guests to his son’s wedding (Matthew 22: 1-10).  In that parable, the invited guests refused to come.  The king then sent his servants out to “invite to the feast whomever [they] find.  The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike.”

In today’s parable, both the wise and the foolish virgins are included in the wedding. 

God does not discriminate in his invitation.

It is up to us to respond.  

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32nd Sunday - C

Commentary

Luke 20:27-38

The Resurrection Matters

The Sadducees “deny that there is a resurrection.” 

At the time of Jesus, the Sadducees happened to be the elite Temple leaders.  They in fact collaborated with the Roman occupiers to maintain the status quo.

Ironically, when the Romans destroyed the Jerusalem Temple in A.D. 70, the Sadducees were also annihilated and ceased to exist.   

When a person does not believe in the resurrection and eternal life, this earthly existence can lose its meaning and purpose. 

On the contrary, by now – Chapter 20 in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus has arrived in Jerusalem.  In two chapters (by the end of Chapter 22), he would be arrested and crucified.  He died.  Then he was raised and became the source of resurrection for all humanity.

His whole earthly life and ministry is oriented towards this moment of his death and resurrection.  His life has a purpose.  He lives for God and others. 

It does matter on what and whom we build this earthly existence of ours.  

32nd Sunday - C (November 6, 2016)

Readings

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32nd Sunday - B

Commentary

Mark 12: 38-44

Her Whole Livelihood

Jesus observes that the woman “contributed her whole livelihood.” The word bios translated here as “livelihood” can also be translated “life.” Fr. Frank Moloney, SDB., suggests that the “double meaning is intended” for out of love and trust, she in fact offers her life. [1]

The widow is poor. Some scholars suggest that the Greek word ptochoi used here to described her indicates that she is “the poorest of the poor, a widow reduced to begging.” [2]

But her poverty does not limit her generosity.

Jesus is already in Jerusalem. His mission is near its climatic point. In a short time, he would offer his own life to God and to humanity.

Do I put limits on my generosity and service?

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[1]. Francis J. Moloney. The Gospel of Mark, A Commentary. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2002; p. 247.

[2] http://www.progressiveinvolvement.com

Greek has two words for "poor"--penes and ptochos. Penes means "working poor." Ptochos, on the other hand, means being destitute. To put it another way: Penes means having to work. Ptochos means having to beg.

32nd Sunday - B (November 8, 2015)

Readings

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32nd Sunday

Commentary

Luke 20: 27 - 38

The Everlasting and the Fleeting

The Sadducees, in making up an absurd scenario, illustrate their denial “that there is a resurrection.”  They cannot see beyond the here and now of this fleeting world. 

Consequently, they, the temple priests [1], find Jesus a threat to their earthly authority and power.  They build their lives and power on their short-sighted value system of things that do not last.   They make things that one day will die their gods.

Jesus invites us to live truly as children of the living God whose value system is everlasting.  

While we live in this world, God blesses us with fleeting things to sustain us.  May we never allow those created and fleeting things replace the ever-living Creator.

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[1]  Footnote on Luke 20:27 and Matthew 3:7, The New American Bible, Revised Edition, 2011.

32nd Sunday - C (November 10, 2013)

Readings

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